


I'm Gonna Be Right By Your Side No Matter What

by thefingergunsgirl



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Arugments, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Dark Sides, Fluff, Gen, Movie Nights, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, dark side backstory, remus virgil and janus being pals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24474601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefingergunsgirl/pseuds/thefingergunsgirl
Summary: "Once upon a time, Janus Remus and Virgil were unstoppable. They were the unwanteds, the sides left to rot in the shadows. They were meant to die out there in the darker corners of the mindscape.Except they didn’t. They built something in those shadows, over the years. A home. It was dark and gloomy and thanks to Remus there were a lot of monsters. It was tiny, cramped, and cold.But it was theirs. They were still here. They wore the title Dark Sides like a badge of honor. "Or: The Story of how the Dark Sides came together, fell apart, and became whole again.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders
Comments: 7
Kudos: 123





	I'm Gonna Be Right By Your Side No Matter What

Once upon a time, Janus Remus and Virgil were unstoppable. They were the unwanteds, the sides left to rot in the shadows. They were meant to die out there in the darker corners of the mindscape. 

Except they didn’t. They built something in those shadows, over the years. A home. It was dark and gloomy and thanks to Remus there were a lot of monsters. It was tiny, cramped, and cold.

But it was theirs. They were still here. They wore the title Dark Sides like a badge of honor. 

Virgil would tell campfire stories every Friday, with very helpful commentary from Remus. Janus would play old records for them when they couldn’t sleep. Every Halloween Virgil and Remus would try to steal Janus’ hat, they’ve never managed to do it. They’d set up punching bags and tape pictures of the light sides on them. Late nights would end with the three of them on the floor on top of each other, fast asleep. 

That was when things were easy. 

Then things got more complicated. Remus got stronger and more violent. Virgil got too scared to keep telling stories on Friday Nights. Janus got more guarded and evasive, he wouldn’t trust Remus or Virgil with anything anymore. Virgil got more powerful as the years went on, and he became controlling and obsessive. 

The three of them stopped spending as much time together. They spent as much time in their rooms as they could. They got into fights over just about anything. They stopped smiling when they saw each other walk into a room. 

But even then, they were there for each other. Virgil would knock on Remus’ door when he knew he was missing Roman. Janus would hold Virgil’s hand when his heart was beating just a little too fast. Janus would sit next to Remus and just listen to him talk about all his horrifying ideas. Remus always knew how to distract Virgil after a bad day. Virgil and Janus would watch conspiracy videos when Janus was really tired. 

As long as they stuck together, they’d be ok. Because they were the Dark Sides, and they could get through anything. 

That all changed when one day, Virgil walked out the door and never came back. It was over something stupid, Remus made a dumb joke. Virgil got angry. Janus told Virgil to back off. 

Then Virgil hit Janus. Hard. Too hard. 

Virgil underestimated his strength, and Janus got hurt, and suddenly it was all too much. 

He was out the door before Remus could say anything else. 

—————————

It was another three days before Remus and Janus realized Virgil wasn’t coming back. The Dark Sides were no more, and Remus and Janus fell apart. 

They weren’t there for each other anymore. 

Remus and Janus went weeks without talking to each other. Remus got darker and darker. Janus stopped speaking the truth entirely. Everything he said was a lie. 

That’s how it was for a few years. 

Virgil moved on, and Janus and Remus were forced to pick up the pieces. 

Virgil got a shiny new family, and Remus and Janus were stuck with one so broken it might never be whole again. 

\--------------------------------------

Then the impossible happened. Janus got accepted. Just another side to leave Remus, they all would eventually. 

When Janus came back from the light sides, Remus refused to look him in the eyes. 

A few hours later, Janus banged on Remus’ door. Remus opened because Janus never knocked, he just walked into rooms. 

Janus stood there, looked Remus dead in the eyes and said 

“I will never leave you.  _ Never”  _

Remus hugged Janus so hard that they both hit the ground. 

Tragedy is what brought the dark sides together, and maybe it could keep the remaining two together. 

—————————

Exactly one week later, Patton knocked on his door, and Janus opened it hesitantly. He was in uncharted territory.

“Hey, Janus!” Patton said.

“Hello, Patton.” Janus said, “Why are you here?” 

“Well, the other light sides and I, we have movie nights every Friday, and since you, y’ know aren’t a dark side, anymore, I was wondering if you’d like to come?”

_ Friday night campfire stories are so much better than Friday Night Movies.  _ The thought pops up into Janus’ head before he can stop it.

Janus grimaces and says, “I’ll come.”

Patton bounces in excitement, “You will?”

Janus nods his head, “I’ll come. On one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Remus can come too,” Janus says and Patton freezes and rubs the back of his head nervously.

“I don’t know how comfortable Roman would be with that-“ Patton starts to say, but Janus cuts him off by closing his door. 

Patton grabs the door before Janus can slam it and holds his hands up in the universal  _ I surrender  _ gesture. 

“Sorry Janus, uh you can tell Remus that he’s welcome to come ok?” 

Janus closes his door without saying anything. 

——————

That Friday, All Six of Thomas’ sides are sitting on the mindscape’s couch and the tension is thick enough that you could cut it with a knife.

Virgil is sitting as far away as he can get for Janus and Remus. Roman is glaring at Remus, who is sitting behind Janus. Remus refuses to sit on the same couch as Roman. Patton is settled on the floor in his cat onesies, oblivious to it all. Logan is looking like he’s waiting for a fight to break out. 

From the look on his face, Janus isn’t so sure he’s confident that he could stop it. 

Throughout the movie, Remus makes a bunch of wildly inappropriate comments, but Janus can tell he’s not paying attention to the movie not really. 

Janus can’t blame him, it’s their first time seeing Virgil in a casual setting in years and it’s weird. 

Janus hates himself for how much he misses Virgil. 

When the protagonist of the movie leaves his girlfriend out of fear, Janus can hear Remus groan behind him. 

“Wow, dick move, he just straight up left, whatever happened to loyalty,” Remus says, and Janus knows that he’s talking about Virgil.

Roman turns on him, “You don’t know anything about Loyalty, Remus I don’t think you can complain.” 

“Of course, Roman, because you yourself are a paragon of loyalty, aren’t you?” Janus shoots back. 

if it was even possible, the tension in the room gets thicker. 

Patton fiddles with the zipper of his cat onesies while Janus' regret grows. They shouldn’t have come here. They’re supposed to know better. 

“Alright everyone, let’s just take a deep breath,” Logan says, but Virgil cuts him off.

“Why’d you invite them?” He asks Patton, and Patton shrinks.

“Kiddo, I just thought it would be fun for us to all do something together,” Patton says.

“Well, you thought wrong.” Virgil snaps.

“What are you gonna do, anxiety, run away from us again, like you always fucking do?” Remus says, and Virgil flinches. 

Logan tries to calm the situation, but Virgil doesn’t care.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean Remus?” Virgil snaps. 

“Oh it means  _ nothing at all,  _ Virgil, it’s _ not like you would know anything about running away _ , our bad,” Janus hisses. 

“You’re still mad about that?” Virgil says. The surprise in his voice is thick. 

“You left me for my brother, Virgil!” Remus is shouting now, “You promised you would never do that, and then you did!” 

Janus forces himself to stay in his seat. He has to keep his cards close to his chest. He can’t let them know how much he cares. 

Virgil’s face hardens, and  _ shit,  _ that’s the look he gets when he’s about to say things he can’t take back. 

“Wanna know why I did that Remus? Because you’re insane, and I couldn’t take it anymore!” Virgil snaps. 

“Get off your high horse dark and stormy, you were just as bad as me,” Remus shouts. 

“What the hell did I ever do to you? Virgil challenges. 

“You left us, Virgil! We were the dark sides, we were powerful, we were a family, and then you attacked me, and left us to rot.” Janus snarls, no longer able to remain impartial. 

“Ok Kiddos, can we just take a breather?” Patton says. 

“Stay out of it!” The three of them shout simultaneously. 

“What did you expect me to do? I attacked Janus, and then I ran away like a coward,” Virgil’s voice cracks on when he says coward, “I hurt you guys, I was dragging you down, I had to leave, to protect you!” 

Janus could punch a wall right now. “Right because running away to light sides was  _ totally  _ the right thing to do, I felt  _ so protected  _ the day Remus and I realized you weren’t going to walk back through that door.” 

“We’re not the light sides, you moron, we’re the dark sides. You really think we would have kicked you out for attacking the snake boy over there? Do you knowing how many fucking times I’ve attacked him?” 

“7,864 times,” Janus helpfully supplies.

“7,864 times!” Remus says, “You think we’d be so pissed out at you for doing that? We don’t have that luxury! We can’t just send people to Thomas’ subconscious, that’s where we live! We stick together because no matter how fucked up we are, that’s what we do.” 

Roman looks so shocked that Janus wonders if he’s even breathing. 

“Oh,” Virgil says. 

“Yeah,” Janus says.

Virgil’s giving them the look the,  _ I’m sorry, I screwed up, I keep hurting you even though that’s the last thing I want to do,  _ look.

And Janus and Remus give him that look the,  _ It’s not totally okay, but we love you anyway.  _

  
  


“Ok, is anyone else perplexed, because I for one, have no clue what just happened,” Logan says. 

The three of them can’t breathe they’re laughing so hard. The light sides don't understand, but that’s ok. There are some things you don’t understand unless you’ve lived in the shadows your entire life. There are things you don’t understand unless you’ve sat around a fireplace and listened to Virgil’s ghost stories. There are things you don’t understand until you’ve spent Tuesday mornings listening to Janus talks. The three of them are far from perfect. They’re messy, violent, flawed, and broken. But they are and would always be the dark sides, and that means no one left behind.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!! 
> 
> comments and Kudos are appreciated :)
> 
> come scream with me on Tumblr @thefingergunsgirl


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